Welcome to BlackPast
BlackPast is dedicated to providing reliable information on the history of Black people across the globe, and especially in North America. Our goal is to promote greater understanding of our common human experience through knowledge of the diversity of the Black experience and the ubiquity of the global Black presence.
Father of Black History
Our motto is “Every day is Black History Month!” This week we honor the man whose vision to bring Black history out of the shadows feeds our mission to make that information accessible to people everywhere at all times.
Carter G. Woodson (December 19, 1875 – April 3, 1950)
If the Negro … must eternally be fed by the hand that pushes him into the ghetto, he will never be strong enough to get out of the ghetto. (Carter G. Woodson Learn more about him by reading our entry.)
Woodson began publishing The Journal of Negro History (now the Journal of African American History) in 1916. It is now the oldest Black-owned journal in the USA dedicated to the Pan-Africanist ideals of reconciling Black histories. Find out more about the Journal here.
EXPLORE MORE OF OUR CATALOG
Black Educators and Thinkers
Black Greek Life
Global Black Liberation Movements
Global Black History - Western Europe
Global Black History - The Portuguese-Speaking (Lusophone) Sphere
Perspectives: Essays on African American and Global Black History
BLACKPAST KIDS
- Tulsa and Black Wall Street
- Nine Minutes in May: How Ge...
- Juneteenth: The Growth of a...
- Ruby Bridges (1954 – )
Encyclopedia
BLACKPAST SOCIAL MEDIA #BlackPastClassroom
HEY TEACHERS! We’re growing our resources for educators and would like to hear from you about your experiences teaching Black history either in the compulsory or post-secondary sector. What are some best practices you can share? What online and/or physical resources do you find useful. What have been/are the challenges of teaching Black history? Did the pandemic change the environment for content diversity for better or worse? Tag your posts with #BlackPastClassroom and let’s share resources with everyone!
JOIN OUR ONLINE BOOK CLUB
Our first book is about the 19th century Bambara polity, Segu, written by the Guadeloupe-born French writer, Maryse Condé.
The year is 1797. A White man is spotted approaching the gates to the kingdom of Segu and Dousika Traore, the king’s most trusted court advisor, is summoned to the palace. His concubine Sira goes into labor while the entire household is away trying to catch a glimpse of the foreigner. Meanwhile, Samake, a fellow council member and Dousika’s arch-enemy, devises a plot to destroy him. Over the coming years, Tiekoro, Dousika’s first-born son covertly embraces Islam and travels to Timbuktu accompanied by Siga, Dousika’s son by an enslaved woman. His third son, Naba is kidnapped by slavers and sold, while youngest son Malobali, who’s birth is over-shadowed by the arrival of the white man, becomes a mercenary, raping and pillaging his way through the Ashanti kingdom.
“Condé’s Segu is a real place and her novel is based on historical events. What makes the book “classic” is her seamless blend of hard fact and mesmerising fiction.” Malcolm Forbes (the nationalnews.com)